


Behind the Smile

by Pachohderm



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Angst, Emotional Hurt, M/M, Minor Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Willie Backstory (Julie and The Phantoms), Willie speaks Mandarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:15:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28743090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pachohderm/pseuds/Pachohderm
Summary: Alex loves spending time with Willie. After their crazy outing to the museum, Willie decides to take Alex somewhere a little more personal. This is where Alex learns there is more to Willie than the smile he always has. (Takes place sometime in episode 4 before the HGC plot line starts).
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56





	Behind the Smile

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to have Willie die in the 70s and made his parents immigrants. Willie makes mention of his mother as a comfort woman. Basically these were young women (mostly teens) from poor areas in Korea who were sent to Japanese controlled areas to be sex slaves for the soldiers. I figured that Willie's mother would be Korean born but have a Japanese parent because of the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula. Please forgive any mistakes regarding the generational name and the Mandarin. I tried my best.

Being with Willie was always an adventure. Alex was notoriously anxious but when he was with the skateboarder that anxiety was a little less pronounced. He just had a calming effect on him. So he was cautiously excited for what crazy thing he was going to do with Willie this time. Screaming in a museum was so fun.

He found the other ghost skating around Venice Beach. It wasn’t too far from the famed Dogtown that was skating heaven back in the day. Willie’s long locks flew behind him as he sped down the sidewalk, going through lifers without a care. Alex laughed at the simple joy that Willie got from messing with the living.

It was like Willie could sense he was there and his warm brown eyes flashed happily when he spotted him. “Hotdog you made it!”

Alex grimaced at the nickname that Willie wouldn’t drop. Dying from poisonous hot dogs was not funny. But it was hard to say that when Willie smiled at him. He was just so pretty. “Hey Willie. So uh…are we just going to hang around here or….”. Alex swore his tongue didn’t know how to work sometimes. He sounded so stupid!

Willie chuckled. “Nah. This place is boring. Went through the same couple like three times already. I actually thought of somewhere else we could go. It’s way more vibrant than this tourist dump.”

Alex nodded, trying to listen to what Willie was actually saying and not stare at his eyes. “R-right. So where do you have in mind?”

Willie smirked. “It’s a surprise, Hotdog. Come on.” Alex didn’t get a chance to argue that he didn’t like surprises. He had anxiety, hello! But Willie grabbed his hand before he could and they poofed away from the beachfront.

What was surely on a second or so later, Alex was hit with bright reds, greens, blues, script in a different language, strong smells of ginger and sesame, and a cacophony of what must have been Mandarin or Cantonese. “We’re in Chinatown,” Alex said, a little in awe. He had never really traveled down this way in LA when he was alive. The place was bursting with life.

“This is where I grew up,” Willie said, his voice somber. Alex’s head whipped to look at the skateboarder. He knew Willie was Asian. He wasn’t blind, but he didn’t know that Willie was from LA. It was just something that didn’t come up.

Alex pushed his bangs back on the right side so he could look at his…friend? He wasn’t sure what they were. “Wow. That’s so cool.” He probably sounded lame as hell but what was he supposed to say? Especially when Willie had this far off look in his eyes.

Willie shook his head and looked over at him, that usual smile and happy eyes on display. “Let’s go. I want to show you around.” Willie grabbed his hand again and they walked into the bustling streets of the ethnic neighborhood.

Alex had gotten to learn a little about Julie while living in the garage but it was different when you were surrounded by the people and culture of the other person like this. It was a bit overwhelming. But that didn’t mean Alex didn’t love learning all the little things about the neighborhood and more about Willie. “Okay so over there is the Zhao family antique store. They would bring stuff from the old country to sell to Americans. Uncle Ling always would chase me out with a broomstick because I loved to mess with the merchandise.”

“Uncle Ling,” Alex asked. Was it his family’s store?

Willie smiled and laughed at Alex’s face. “He’s not really my uncle. It’s just what we call older people, uncle and aunt. Well actually it is _shū fù_ ,” Willie explained, saying something in another language at the end.

Alex stared at him, his eyes wide. “You speak Chinese!?”

Wille shrugged nonchalantly. “Mandarin, but yeah. I told you I grew up here. It was my first language.”

Alex was in awe. There was so much beneath that skateboarder persona. “That’s so cool. I have German in me but I suck at it.”

Willie smiled at him, his eyes twinkling. “I had to know it. Otherwise my _Zû Mū_ , my paternal grandmother, would hit my fingers with the wooden cooking spoon. But I’m only Chinese on my dad’s side. My mom’s Japanese and Korean.”

“How did that combination happen,” Alex asked as they casually strolled the tiny streets.

“My mom…she was a comfort woman sent to Hong Kong. She and my dad met after the war.”

Alex’s blond brows furrowed. “You mean World War II?” Willie nodded as his jaw clenched. He was probably reliving memories.

“Yeah…they came to the states in the 50s. I was the second of five children. Four boys and one sister, Mei Li. We called her Anna May after the actress, though.” Alex never expected Willie to be open to what it was like before death. But looking at him…he wasn’t really telling him. He was just reliving the past.

It was then they stopped. They were in front of a small bakery or restaurant. Alex wasn’t exactly sure what it was. He just saw a lot of little balls of dough in those wooden steamer baskets. Willie reached out and touched the glass separating them from the food. “When we could afford to celebrate, my mom liked to take us to get dim sum. It was one of my favorite things to eat growing up….”.

Alex saw the unshed tears in Willie’s eyes from the reflection of the glass. “Willie…”. Alex put his hand on Willie’s shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. “I’m so sorry. I know what it feels like to miss when things were good.” Alex could imagine it was especially hard not being able to eat as a ghost when you had a tie to something like that.

Like before, Willie shook off the sadness and was smiling again. “Follow me. I want to show you where I left my handprints in the sidewalk.” Willie jumped on his board, laughing gleefully. Alex looked after him, his eyes burning with the tears he didn’t let fall for the Asian boy.

It had been a dizzying few hours in Chinatown and Alex swore that he knew more about the neighborhood than he did his own from childhood. “This place really is amazing. It is like stepping into another world…or rather country. Did you ever get to go to China or anything?”

Willie shook his head as he looked around at his former home. “Yeah, it is. And we could never afford it. I always wanted to see if I could skate the Great Wall of China, you know?”

Alex didn’t know but he got the sentiment. “Yeah, that would have been bonkers.” They turned onto a regular little street like any other in the neighborhood. It wasn’t as clogged with people. It was obviously a more residential street. Alex went to look at the houses, but he didn’t see Willie at his side.

“Alex, let’s go. I think we’ve went everywhere interesting,” Willie called to him. Willi turned around and started skating the opposite direction.

“O-okay,” Alex said, a little confused by Willie’s abrupt change. He had been so excited to show him around, even when he was remembering his past. Why did he stop? Alex walked a bit farther down the street and he got his answer.

Right along the sidewalk was a makeshift shrine full of incense, food offerings, and photos. Alex was looking at what surely where Willie died. He walked closer to look more closely. His breath hitched as he saw Willie in a black and white photo. His hair was tied back into a classic braid falling down his back. He was wearing a traditional Chinese garment, a changshan if Alex remembered what Willie said earlier correctly. Underneath the photo were characters in Mandarin. It was his name. It had to be. He looked and saw something in English. Dông Liu Chonglin. It was Willie’s birth name.

Alex’s throat tightened as he took in the sight before him. He watched as an old lady walked over and placed flowers in front of the photo. “Love you, Big Brother,” he heard her mutter. Alex couldn’t stop his eyes from watering. Willie’s only sister remembered him. She came to his death spot. He looked again at the flowers as she prayed. He was full on sobbing as he saw the rainbow ribbon holding the flowers together. She knew about her brother.

It was all too much for Alex and he poofed away. He was a little worried that Willie would be upset with him for not listening to him and ditching him, but he really wanted to be with his family. He landed back in the studio to see it empty. He poofed inside the house to see Reggie watching TV with Ray and Carlos, unbeknownst to them. Luke and Julie were more than likely upstairs in her room and working on a song. He went to her room to see it dark and without either songwriter in sight. Where were they?

He checked out the window to find them laying down in the backyard together. They looked like they were relaxing. Alex didn’t want to disturb them. So he poofed back into the studio and sat on the couch. He grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it to his chest. He was so fortunate to have people that cared about him that were with him. Willie…he was all alone. And didn’t know that he was remembered and loved. If only Alex could help him connect with his loved ones that were still around. If only…


End file.
